I am a Black Friday survivor.

Instead of going to sleep like I wanted to Thanksgiving night, I went in to work. It was a bit insane. I worked from 11:30pm Thursday night to 5am Friday morning. I was stationed at the front of the store to encourage people to keep the line from forming across the door-way, and to monitor the distribution of Red Bull our store decided to give away. When the doors to the mall were opened at midnight chaos ensued. People of all ages were running down the halls, screaming and laughing. I was rather scared for my life. As soon as people discovered that we were giving away Red Bull they came storming into our store in huge waves. Luckily, I was able to position myself behind the pyramid we had formed with the cases, and was able to keep from being trampled. Once all the Red Bull was gone I was assigned to the fitting rooms, and I spent the rest of the night running around like a headless chicken putting things away, and helping people find things.

Once my shift was over, I drove home, exhausted, and slept for 10 hours. As soon as I woke up I took a shower and began preparing myself for another 5 hour Black Friday shift from 5pm-10pm. While this later shift was slightly less hectic, I am still thoroughly worn out. Everything hurts. My neck, back, legs, and, most severely, my feet. The best part? I get to work again tomorrow from 1pm-5pm...! Woo hoo! :)

I am a turkey eater.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This day has been fabulous! Although I was unable to fly back to CA to be with my immediate family, and I miss them terribly, I had a wonderful time thanking our Lord for his blessings with my extended family here in UT. Everything was delicious! Mashed potatoes and gravy are my all time favorite Thanksgiving dish. I am thankful for the time preparing the food with people I love, and then sitting down to eat an excellent meal! My contribution was the making of a 'Pink, Fluffy Cranberry Salad'. It had whipped cream, marshmallows, cranberry sauce, and pineapple chunks in it. Yummy! I hope that you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! A special shout out to my beloved family in California: Mom, Dad, Josiah, Matthew, Amanda, Elizabeth(!), Nehemiah, Mary, Darren, Rebekah, Claire, Josh, Grace, the Howards (wish we were related), and my San Bernardino church family!


Some of the things I am thankful for:
Family
Friends
Freedom
Health
Weather (snow!)
My car (even if it isn't 4WD)
The US mail service
Text messaging :)


Don't forget to remain thankful for our many blessings throughout the year, as we wait for the next Turkey Day!


P.S. And also, congratulations to, Apple, the turkey that was pardoned by President Obama this year! :)

I am cold... always.

I am always cold. My brothers used to tell me I was a reptile, and incapable of producing my own body heat. Sometimes I think it must be true. That may have been why God chose to put me in a beautifully sunny, and warm, environment during my childhood (So Cal). However, I recently made a big change in my life, and moved to Utah. Where, as evidenced by the large amount of snow falling from the sky, it is freezing!! Apparently, there is a difference between a "jacket" and a "coat". My California "coat" (which is really just a jacket, I have been told) doesn't cut it here. My lovely second cousin-in-law, Crystal DeGreef (pictured here with her two beautiful daughters and two dogs), has been teasing me about my idea of winter clothing. :) Suffice it to say, that I will be adding to my wardrobe as soon as possible.

Regardless of the fact that I always feel cold, I LOVE cold weather! Snow is fantastic! I have been like a little kid in Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory. I have made a snowman, done several snow angels, and eaten a considerable amount of (clean) snow. I have been awed by the beauty of snow. Having only seen it fall from the sky one other time, I can't resist running outside and just standing in the cold silence when it snows at night. Something I find very interesting is how very bright the world seems when it has snowed, even at midnight. Snow is amazing! And I love it! The end. :)

I am a writer.

Most of you may have seen that I am working on writing a novel. (If you haven't seen it, the link is that small orange box to the left.) I have attempted to write a story before. However, I was only 15 at the time, and my writing left much to be desired. It was also hand written, which was a pain, so I am excited to have found a website that I can publish my writing on for others to read.
There is not much for me to say about myself as a writer, so I will show you some of my writing. This is something I wrote on February 19, 2009 in my English class at San Bernardino Valley Community College. At the beginning of each class my teacher, Mark Henry, played us a song and asked us to write about the song or a related topic. I wish I could remember the title of the song we listened to on this day, but here is what I wrote.

         The street where I live appears quiet and calm. The wind blows softly through the trees, and the sun shines on the rooftops. There is not a lot of traffic, so the neighborhood kids can ride their bikes back and forth down the deserted road. That is my neighborhood during the day. Night time, however, is a different story. As the sun goes down a tension begins to build. Families retreat into their houses to finish the evening behind locked doors. The moon casts an eerie glow upon the ground, and the gentle breeze through the trees becomes a low moan. It is during this time that the evil creatures of the night begin their dark prowl. Eggs are thrown, windows are smashed, and hopes and dreams are crushed. These creatures would have remained invisible to me, if not for the window that was missing from my car when I woke up one morning.
-By Amy Ball

I find that I thoroughly enjoy writing in story form. I like to play with the descriptions, and see how vividly I can portray a certain idea or scene. Words make me happy. I want to write a short story just so I can incorporate the word "implode" into the plot. Maybe I will... :)

I am a follower of Christ.

My series of "I am..." posts would not be complete with out a post about my belief in Jesus Christ. I recently moved to the state of Utah, where the Latter Day Saint (also known as Mormon) church is very prominent. The LDS faith teaches many things that do not follow God's scripture. They believe that Jesus (God's only Son) is the brother of Satan... They also do not believe that it is through the gift of Jesus Christ's death on the cross that we are saved. They do not understand the concept of God's grace. Mormons believe that salvation must be earned. It breaks my heart. They appear, on the outside, to have everything together. They are generally fairly wealthy, they attend church regularly, they tithe, they help the needy, they do everything a good Christian ought to do, but they do it for the wrong reason. As a follower of Christ, I know that nothing I could ever do would be enough to earn my way into heaven. I believe that it is only through acceptance of Jesus' free gift on the cross that I have a place in God's kingdom. And I am eternally (literally) grateful. God's love covers a multitude of sins.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
It says nothing about earning your way into heaven.


Romans 10:9-10 says, "If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
Again, it says nothing about earning your way into heaven.

This is what I believe: That God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to be brutally crucified on a cross, that He died and rose again three days later, and that it is through His sacrifice that I do not have to pay the price (death) for my sins. I feel a great burden to share God's grace and forgiveness with the Mormons I now come in contact with regularly.

In a previous post, I mentioned my manager at Charlotte Russe, Heidi. I would appreciate it if you would remember to pray for her, as she is a Mormon, and is likely under the impression that she has to earn her way into heaven with out the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I would also ask that you pray for me. Pray that I will be given an opportunity to share my belief in Jesus' free gift, and that I will take advantage of that opportunity.

A follower of Christ,
Amy

I am a sales associate.

Let's just say that retail is heaps different than working in the food industry. My experience in the food industry tells me that I have to be constantly moving or there is obviously not enough work to do, and I would get sent home. According to my manager at Charlotte Russe, Heidi, I can just stand around pretending to straighten things while I wait for customers to come in. It is brilliant! The problem would be my lack of comfortable shoes. Muscles I didn't know existed are aching, and my feet have blisters. Everyone keeps telling me that I will "toughen up" though, so I am looking forward to the day when I don't feel about 94 when it comes time for me to clock out. In the mean time, I will be busy trying to remember all the various promotions (all denim is only $20! haha), and trying to figure out what the fashion trends are right now. Apparently, I know very little about fashion. I need to work on that. As my final thought in this blog I would like to tell you that it is 45 degrees and incredibly windy here in Sandy, Utah. Snow is expected on Saturday! I love snow! I intend to make lots of snowmen. :)

Until next time,
Amy

I am officially a blogger.

I have decided to try out this whole blog thing. It is late tonight and I need to go to bed soon, so this will be short. Tomorrow I work at my new job, at Charlotte Russe, from 9am-2pm. I will type out a proper post tomorrow, but until then I will leave you with one of my favorite songs by JJ Heller - Love Me.
Also, here is my favorite dog right now, the Bernese Mountain Dog. I want a puppy! :) Thanks for taking the time to read this.

God Bless,
Amy